Marius and Cherry had finally gotten Armand back in line, but he was mighty pissed off and most especially pissed off with Marius… I’ve had about enough of this little quarrel. I squared off with Armand and set him straight. He was not going to jeopardize this mission. He was either going to fall in line or I would have Mekare keep him locked up with earth chains.
As we approached the front door, Marius had a brief chat with Lestat. Marius would be going with his other son, Va’lis and his granddaughter Cherry to retrieve the newborn. Futile and stupid if you asked me. “Make sure you keep him safe, Lestat. Get in there, get Astoria, and then leave our soldiers to the fight,” Marius instructed Lestat who walked with us now; Louis at his side. Lestat nodded and understood. There was a love between the two that transcends supernatural bonds, for they have none of those. Louis chimed in, “He’s in a dark place right now.” “Yes, and I won’t let him get lost to it I promise,” Lestat agreed.
When we got to the front doors we separated, killing off the guards quite easily. Some of them were mortals, others half-breeds. Khayman and I took to the sky. Armand and Lestat busted through the front doors and Marius, Cherry, and Va’lis took to the sewers.
I hurried to the back of the gun cellar and opened up the cabinets to start loading up a duffle bag full of my favorites; Va’lis followed me. I knew that in order for us to survive this, Va’lis would need to be armed. If we were to successfully retrieve our daughters, that is. So I took out two Glock 27s, loaded magazines into them with our armor-piercers, handed them to him. I put a holster around him as he played with the guns, of course I knew to keep the safety on. I took the guns and gave him a look before putting them into his holster. This was no ordinary holster either, it came fully equipped with four magazine holders in the back, so I loaded all four slots for him. “Va’lis these are not toys,” I told him. He looked at me, “But they are so pretty.” “You’ll get your chance to use them, but not before you listen carefully,” I said. “We have twenty minutes if that for you to learn what’s taken me centuries to perfect,” I told him. His face got serious and he looked like he was ready for business. My husband may be aloof but he’s a killer, make no mistake, and when it’s time to be serious he’s got razor-like focus. I knew that. I could sense the rage in him growing, his eyes showed it. I knew that walking him through all the nuances of shooting guns would certainly calm him a bit. At least a bit.
“The magic..that we of the Razele line..and those before my sire ..perform..is called blood magic. You literally perform it with your own or a victims blood. I..I am still young…I was not taught very much of it…I can only tell you what I know..” I stared down at my hands, dirty and bloody. David studied me for a moment. “You lie.” I felt a sudden jolt and pain to my cheeK, dazed at the powerful hit. Danielle had struck me. “I..I swear.. I’m a hundred and thirty five. My sire taught me very litt-” with a yelp I was struck on my other cheek. I took deep breaths to calm the fire ready to burst from me. David sighed and held a hand to Danielle to stop. “Tell me what you know..share what this magic can do.” I sniffed and took a deep breath. “I perfected one spell..Acidic Touch is what it is called. I can simply focus my blood and make it pour from my fingers to burn someone…like acid…if we were on Sosaria….I could show you but…the..the magic doesn’t work here..” I wasn’t lying this time. He could see that.
Time passed slowly, Cherry holding me through each second that went by. I could feel the hate within me, it had been awhile since I felt a hate this strong. Many, many years before Pandora calmed the storm of my mind perhaps. And now it was struggling to free itself once more, and how I wanted to let it loose. My magic did not work here, but I would destroy those who had shattered my family apart.